Wednesday Hodgepodge

Linking up with Joyce for the Hodgepodge

1. What was the best (or one of the best) summers of your life? Tell us why.

It is a tie between summer of 2000 and 2012

In the summer of 2000, I was pregnant and due by the end of the year. We told our parents at some point in June that we were expecting a baby. Donnie and I went on a short trip to Canada in July. We moved into our first house, a new build (it was not a large home or custom build, but I still loved the fact that it was brand new! And had central air! And adequate heat! (Ye olde farmhouse I grew up in Indiana was neither sufficiently cool in the summer nor adequately heated in the summer) in August. Just an exciting time!

A few pics:

We told our families that we were expecting a baby the same day that we were sworn into the Indiana bar. We had already taken the bar exam and been sworn in to practice law in Ohio back in ‘99. We took the bar exam in Indiana in Feb. of 2000 and were sworn in sometime in June. I think...

Oops- I never put the date  in the scrapbook though I left room to do so!

The day we were sworn in

The scrapbook page before the swearing in was of the Flying Pig Marathon which was in May and the page after referenced our trip to Canada which was in July. So I think the swearing in was in June. 

In Canada in July

New house in August!

In 2012, we had our three kids and were living our best, busy, but not crazy busy lives. I was not the career driven woman who passed the bars of two states several years earlier. My career ambitions melted as quickly as an ice cube in a non-air conditioned farmhouse in Indiana in August. I spent my days that summer taking the kids to the pool, driving them to playdates and to a few structured activities. We traveled way more than normal that summer- I took the kids to Canada to visit with my sister and her family, the girls and I went to the Chicago American Girl doll store with a friend and her daughter, and we went on a short family vacation in early August. I have some great pictures from those trips but the real joy of that summer were the moments for which there are few to no pictures. The girls playing with the AG dolls for hours on end, getting ice cream from the ice cream place in our downtown, going to the pool, Jacob playing with his neighborhood friends, we parents hanging out in the cul-de-sac every evening after dinner while kids ran around, etc. 

Within a couple of years, life would get a whole lot busier. In the season we were at in the summer of 2012, we were at a sweet spot. Not crazy busy but filled with the aforementioned activities and fewer cares in the world. The kids were not tiny anymore but they weren’t teenagers yet. 

At the neighborhood pool-

in Canada with the cousins

At Chicago’s Navy Pier

So excited to go to the AG doll store!

In Maimi, Fl for a Chelsea game

This would probably be the last summer of Jacob not being too big to throw in the pool!

Shortly after we got home from Florida and before school started, Jacob cut his hair. The new shorter ‘do will always remind me of his starting middle school- he would wear his hair short for the remainder of his school days through high school graduation. When I see pictures of him with his longer hair, I know that he hadn't started 6th grade yet. 

New ‘do

1st day of 6th grade

The girls first day starting 1st and 4th grades

Matching, because sisters and young enough to like it!

From the hairband to the shoes, if you’re gonna do it, do it right!

I love this picture of the girls walking home arm and arm with each other on the way home from the bus stop on the first day of school.

2. When you have a trip coming up do you make a list and check it twice to ensure you don’t forget anything? Or are you a throw whatever you can think of into the suitcase at the last-minute kind of packer? When returning from a trip do you unpack immediately or leave the suitcase right where it lands?

If I am driving somewhere, I just throw whatever I can in the suitcase. If I am flying and have a weight limit for my bag, I am more thoughtful about packing. Regarding returning home, I generally take the suitcase to my  bedroom right away but I don't unpack everything right away.

3. What is your favorite food or bevy made with lemons? Is that a flavor you enjoy?

I like lemonade quite a bit- the low call lemonade from Chik-fil-A is good because it is low cal and tastes really good. I like lemon shrimp as a savory dish. I do like lemon flavor, but I think I like the concept of lemons as much or more than I do the taste. The color is so bright and fun and they scream summer to me. Alyssa loves them in water and in lots of dishes so I buy these a lot.

4.When was the last time you had to make lemonade out of lemons, figuratively speaking?

I cannot think of a good example here :(

5. Did you like school growing up? Why or why not?

I liked school all right. I looked forward to the beginning of the school year if just for a change and to see my friends. But I didn't like doing trigonometry homework or studying for chemistry. I loved English and history.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The bees did their job and pollinated a number of cantaloupe flowers, thank goodness. Isn’t this lil’ cantaloupe adorable? It’s kind of hard to tell the scale/ size here but the fruit is about the size of a golf ball. It looks like a tiny watermelon and is so cute, I could eat it up. Figuratively of course. I actually don’t care much for cantaloupe (we called them muskmelon when I was a kid- I had no idea what a “cantaloupe” was when I moved to the ‘burbs). I planted a few seeds because Alyssa really likes cantaloupe. But this golf ball sized mini fruit will not be ripe for a few more weeks and Alyssa has days at home with us not weeks. Rats! I was hoping there would be ripe cantaloupe for her before she left for school. That will not be the case. Hmmm, delivering home grown fresh fruit to her dorm is one (albeit somewhat extreme) solution. Plus I would get to see Alyssa and spend a little bit of time with her. Turning lemons into lemonade, potentially, proverbially?

Another teeny tiny one!